chris christie did. if you were caught speeding in an unregistered car, would you get away without points? chris christie did. in both cases christie threw his weight around as u.s. attorney and got off easy. if you didn't pay your taxes, ignored ethics law, would you get away with it? chris christie. one set of rules for himself. another for everyone else. >> as we know, that ad didn't play very well in new jersey, but what about this issue? it's one thing for a campaign to bring it up as corzine did which was kind of ham handed, but you can't stop the columnists from bringing it up. >> as a fat man, myself, who ought to lose 30 or 40 pounds and just having gone through a campaign, it's a very tedious, were tiring process and my concern for the governor, and i don't know whether he's going to get in or not get in, is he needs to get in some kind of shape. my last advice to my friend, mike huckabee, whose campaign i chaired four years ago who lost 100 pounds before he started running, is he needs to get

we'd all love it if chris christie got in the race. >> chris christie is exciting. >> he's exciting. >> republicans are looking for a dose of charisma, a jolt of energy. chris christie has beth those in spades. >> stephen: spades, by the way, is not the name of christie's hunting camp. (laughter) and, folks, christie made a big announcement this afternoon. i haven't watched it yet because i don't want to know. (laughter) i'm going to pretend he announced he's the new iphone. (laughter) because, folks, i have loved this beautiful, delicate dance between christie and the media. the media starts it by speculating that he's running and then christie teases us by being coy like this. >> i am not going to run for president in 2012. i'm 100% certain i'm not going to run. i'm not going to be the republican candidate for president or vice president in 2012. what do i have to do short of suicide to convince people i'm not running? apparently i actually is to commit suicide. >> stephen: did you see how he left the door open there? (laughter) last time i checked, he's not dead! and so the christ

chris: what does christie got? >> he has charisma, conviction, has this quality that is so authentic and people are criticizing him. he is elect tabble and great back grouped. conservatives feel like this is their moment and they don't want to settle and they want something special. >> i want to ask this, why christie? >> as he said, he is the anti- obama, he embodies everything that obama isn't. he is a big guy, jersey guy. hangs out at the pizza shop. he embodies -- chris: north italians versus south italians? [laughter] >> one of the problems with romney that he doesn't have an interesting bio. and there is no way into this -- chris: seems morrow boatic. no one would accuse christie of being a robot. >> you couldn't make one like that [laughter] >> i watched chris christie this summer ignite a crowd. one of the most remarkable performances i have seen. trying to put together the bipartisan deal on the new jersey budget, which is as messed up as the federal budget. and people walked out of that session. he was fu

john king has just learned christie will not run. christie had resisted repeated calls to jump into the race, but agreed to reconsider last week. cnn will have live coverage at 1:00 eastern time. >>> american college student amanda nok is on a plane right now, that's her at rome's airport today. heading to seattle for the first time in four years. raw emotion in an italian courtroom. an appeals jury overturning the murder convictions of knox and her boyfriend. the pair was convicted in the slashing murder of her roommate, meredith kercher. prosecutors sensationalized the crime by portraying its as a combination satanic ritual sex orgy gone back. kercher's family is backing the prosecu prosecutor's plan to appeal the case. they say justice would have been served if the jury followed the evidence, not the media hype. >> you can't forgive somebody if they haven't admitted something, so what would they be forgiving. if as was decided yesterday they are innocent, then we say fair enough and all try and move on in that respect. >> a third

governor chris christie. >> he's a nice man in a clean suit that wants to be president. >> chris christie endorses mitt romney because he's a career politician. >> planned for a good long period of time about what he would do if he was given the honor of being president of the united states. >> spent our life entirely in politics. >> his experience as an elected official, experience as governor of massachusetts. he's used executive power. >> he's a real hero in republican circles. >> you're not chris christie, you never will be. >> it's not like chris christie had better options. >> classic case of lesser of two evils. >> nomination process. >> you have to start showing governor romney some respect. >> poll shows romney lea >> he's not just going to be the guy that they love. >> how do you think he feels watching you like everybody more than him? >> they're looking for the anti-romney. >> romney is so boring. >> what do you thing this does to rick perry? >> i think rick perry is dead wrong. >> the governor has 6%. >> he can talk about shooting coyotes in the face. >> rick perry an accompl

governors like governor christie and governor mcdonald. we have young senators like rubio and graham and kirk and kelly eye yot in new hampshire and members of the house like eric cantor and paul ryan. we have the deepest bench that i have ever seen. i'm very excited about the future of the party. if governor christie decides to run, i wish him luck. i think that there is a bit of a caution. the swimming pool looks a lot better until you jump right in. the water may not be quite as warm as you think. >> schieffer: well, you cite this deep republican bench and the polls suggest and the anecdotal evidence i mean when i talk to rep... republicans they don't seem very happy with the republican field that's running. why do you think that is? >> it happens almost every time that people are not happy with the perfect candidate. i do note that governor romney and perry and others are very competitive now. others in the polls with the president and i think that we have a good crop of candidates. i think the party will rally around the nominee. i th

and christie knew that.en langone, who led the effort in recent weeks to draft governor christie told charlie rose he's disappointed christie won't run, but now he's mitt romney's supporter. take a listen. >> i told him at my office last week, if governor christie doesn't run, governor romney, i'm with you. >> are you sure you made every argument that could have been made to governor christie to convince him to run? >> charlie, i did everything but kiss him on the lips, okay? okay? all right? >> with governor christie officially out of the race, a new cbs news poll shows herman cain has moved into a tie with mitt romney atop the 2012 gop candidates. herman cain. cain has 17% support up from 5% two weeks ago. the poll also shows waning support for rick perry who dropped from 23% to 12% in two weeks among republican primary voters. michael steele, couple of things. cain's a story, perry's plunge is a story. and moving on to mitt romney. great news for mitt romney, but it's obvious he's a second choice. is that

chris christie, good-bye. chris christie, don't cry.atched some of the speech today of the new jersey governor kiss good-bye to the presidential race. kind of a letdown overall. he said he couldn't come up with a reason not to complete his term as governor which made, i figure, a couple of not so great points. one, he's no sarah palin heading off from a job he had been duly elected to, a job in his words, asked to have. two, he's not rick perry who's quite willing to spend a year running for president while still keeping the governor's job down in texas. three, he's no mitt romney because he's not clearly intent on, unlike romney, running for and winning a second term as governor of jersey. christie's decision not to run for president leaves a dreary field back there, a field so dreary, so needy that it sat there in the political time-out corner while he made up his mind. so left behind it's only now in the wake of christie's departure we all see rick perry is now tied with herman cain in the national polls of whom republicans say they

current lineup of candidates had urged christie to jump in the speculation is swirling after christie scheduled a surprise news conference i've been told that the new jersey governor did seriously reconsider getting in over the last two rules the guessing game has gone on for months will he or won't he he's been dodging questions for days on whether he'll launch a run for the white house we're awaiting a news conference a statement from the new jersey governor chris christie face to see it ending the guessing game about a potential white house run in just moments new jersey governor chris christie will hold a news conference on a possible run for the white house in two thousand and twelve for me the answer was never anything but no. so once again chris christie held the news cycle hostage this time to announce that nothing had changed oksana said he sees c.n.n. they all took the news or live they stayed with it we counted for forty minutes he said he wasn't running in the first three minutes but if you were going to use the media forced everybody to watch the political circus perp alr

and that was always among the questions, for instance, when christie and those supporting christie were being challenged about the idea can he win in this republican electorate, in this republican primary. the poll we have out today in iowa and new hampshire shows half of iowa republicans call themselves tea party supporters. more importantly, over 80% of the iowa republican electorate identify either as conservative, tea party supporter, or evangelical christian. and these were not the groups whose first choice are mitt romney. so the question is this is certainly a big way of moving financially, moving resources into the romney camp. we know there's a lot of money on the sidelines. having christie out there early, having him out there in new york city where there hasn't been a lot of success for romney or any republican in raising money, because they were sitting there waiting for the hope from new jersey to get in, and he didn't. >> and it brings some passion to the race as well for mitt romney who critics said has lacked that. thanks so much, chuck todd for the breaking news. chris

we'll see what they think, john, now they don't have to go against chris christie. >> no christie ine but they'll get someone a tough lime for them. see you in a few minutes. >>> chris christie is out, as we mentioned but who in the republican race would benefit from that? and is it time for consider sarah palin a contender or a pretender? that's next. ♪ [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com. delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service, and want to lay off over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burde

he described chris christie as an american hero and chris christie said that he believes he is the man to lead the country forward. i am joined by chuck todd again and msnbc david corn. let me start with you. what is your immediate take away from that. in describing chris christie as a hero, he wasn't aware of the fact that unemployment in new jersey is 9.4%. >> i was just checking that on my smart phone. three points above the national average. chris christie's own numbers have not been very popular with the public sector. he has been a controversial and conflict-causing governor. because he goes after the unions, he has a big fan base amongst republican funders and the brothers and others. that will be good in terms of mitt romney gathering up more books. what i'm thinking is that rick perry is looking at this going oy. this debate tonight was going to be his chance to try to get back in the ring and back on top of the horse that he jumped off of in the previous debates. now there is an aura of inevitability, the campaign strategy that got tougher with chris christie's endorsement pr

>> absolutely nothing. >> vice president christie? >> no. >> no? >> no, he didn't promise me anything. >> would he be on your short list? >> of course, he would be on anyone's short list. he may take himself off the list and say, no way, he would have no interest. but the truth is, governor christie is one of the leading figures in the republican party. and is someone who has taken on extreme interests inside his state, has battled them down and balanced the budget in new jersey without raising taxes and creating the kind of environment that will ultimately create more and more jobs. it's what america needs. >> reporter: and, you know, brian with his plain speaking, no nonsense style, chris christie will be a tough surrogate out on the campaign trail. brian. >> all right, jamie gangel in lebanon, new hampshire tonight. jamie, thanks. you can see more of this interview exclusively tomorrow morning on "today." >>> now, to the midafternoon news conference that got everybody's attention. the u.s. attorney general came to the podium and said the united

christie is a former prosecutor, a former federal prosecutor. what prosecutor does and we went through this, recall, with rudy guiliani. prosecutors assemble their facts, they absorb them and then they're terrific at making a presentation and an argument based on the facts and i think what james is describing is why christie had such an appeal. he knows new jersey, pensions, union, finances. when he we've talked to him it isn't a guy who makes interesting and funny arguments, he knows his stuff, but medicare, social security, entitlement reform, foreign policy, tax policy, i don't think he would feel comfortable in having his back masseured the way he has new jersey and would run the risk in a debate of that coming through. >> paul: james? >> you look at his background and he he was not a core politician and before he became governor of the state in 2009, his day job was putting away politicians, who were corrupt in new jersey not on their policies, so, i think if you-- >> what about the vulnerability that dan points out and jason suggests, whic

perry and romney camps respond to christie's position?t an underdog in the latest polls? we'll break down those numbers next right here on "andrea mitchell reports." confidence. available in color. depend for women is now peach. looks and fits like underwear. same great protection. depend. good morning. great day. diabetes testing? it's all the same. nothing changes. then try this. freestyle lite® blood glucose test strip. sure, but it's not gonna-- [beep] wow. yep, that's the patented freestyle zipwik™ design. did it just-- [both] target the blood? yeah, drew it right in. the test starts fast. you need just a third the blood of one touch.® that is different. so freestyle lite test strips make testing... easy? easy. great. call or click-- we'll send you strips and a meter, free. free is good. freestyle lite test strips. call or click today. >>> and breaking news right now on "and rea mitchell reports." after weeks of speculation, chris christie will not enter the republican race for president. christie is expected to make it official at a

are democrats worried about chris christie and should they be worried about chris christie attracting, the very independents that barack obama used to be very attractive to. >> this is very simple for any republican watching. stop wasting your time for somebody who is not in the race. the problem with this conversation from day one it has been -- first it was will newt run. he gets in. then it said, will pawlenty run. he gets in. will palin run? will trump run in will christie run? i swear, literally, if they could somehow go into a shop and create a ronald reagan, they would try to create a ronald reagan robot. it's a riddiiculous conversatio. you don't have a discussion until somebody is in the race. perry on paper looked great, wonderful. when you go into a debate it's a whole different deal. i remind people also, you can be all concerned right now. the reality is this, at this juncture in 2007, obama was down 31 points to hillary clinton. things change over a period of years. bill clinton in iowa, he was dead on arrival in new hampshire. what happened? he rebounds. republicans nee

was just as obvious that chris christie wasn't running. he kept saying "i'm not ready to be president." but the pundits kept insisting he might. >> i've seen really wild report being this. >> what explains the media frenzy over the new jersey governor? some media dilemmas to ponder. hank williams jr.'s offensive comments about president obama. should monday night football have given the singer the boot? >>> those wall street protests now spreading across the country. has the press been too slow to recognize their importance? >>> plus, the passing of steve jobs. the visionary who was so brilliant at manipulating a news business that served as his cheering section. i'm howard kurtz, and this is reliable sources. ♪ >>> back in may, i wrote a "newsweek" headline, "is sarah palin over?" it seemed there was no way the fox commentator was going to mount a white house campaign. it was just as clear when reporters were chasing the bus trips she took over the summer. but the press somehow kept up the pretense until this week when palin pulled the pl

and christie gave his endorsement to romney. >> i felt it was a crushing moment for christie.moment when mccain embraced george w. bush and all of your senses of the maverick flew out the window. it's not that romney's a bad person for him to be embracing, it's just that chris christie everybody felt was an individualist. and now he's embracing mitt romney, and all that sort of pre-excitement about christie has evaporated. like the moment when you go from an oscar nominee to being the guy who didn't get the oscar. >> interesting. >> former speaker of the house newt gingrich at the debate last night made headlines with a bold statement on who should be held responsible for our current economic crisis as well as what exactly should happen to them. >> if they want to change things, the first person to fire is bernanke who is a disaster at chairman of federal reserve. the second person to fire is geithner. and i want to second what michelle said. you ought to start with barney frank and chris dodd and let's look at the politicians who created the environment, the politicians who p

christie smith is live in oakland. the city issued a second order to clear the camp if they don't leave. we are seeing police cars on the move from up above. tell us the latest. i can tell you there's a nervousness and attention building out here this morning at occupy oakland. clearly the people who have been camped out here are aware, they seem to be, that police are coming. we're hearing after getting eviction notice from the city last thursday, they're poised to say but we're seeing that people are setting up palettes around the entire tent area and moving dumpsters in anticipation. one person said she saw chp officers out here early driving around. at this point we haven't seen any police officers. i can tell you this started way back on october 10th. then last week the city gave them notice that this movement, occupy oakland with more than 150 tents, a kitchen, a library, a child center would have to go. but they stayed. one thing we noticed early on is children were camping out here. we talked about whether the

will christie run?wear, literally, if they could somehow go into a shop and create a ronald reagan, they would try to create a ronald reagan robot. it's a ridiculous conversation. you don't have a discussion until somebody is in the race. here is the deal. perry on paper looked great, wonderful. when you go into a debate, it's a whole different deal. i remind people also, you can be all concerned right now. the reality is this, at this juncture in 2007, obama was down 31 points to senator hillary clinton. 31 points to hillary clinton. things change over a period of years. bill clinton in iowa, he was dead on arrival in new hampshire. what happened? he rebounds. republicans need to stop trying to find a perfect candidate and say let me deal with who we have. if christie gets in, great. but he's not in. so suck it up and deal with who is in front of you. >> i will tell you this. i will tell you this. what i like from what i hear from chris christie, unlike so many people who are in the race, who are just

can christie get that kind of cash? bill burton is obama's money man. the former white house deputy press secretary, senior strategist of prioritiessa, a money. set up so reelect the president. kevin madden who was the romney camp advisor. he was campaign adviser for romney in 2008. so i really appreciate both of you being with us. let me start with you, bill. from our reporting, it's possible that there could have been pacs created to raise money for chris christie, that we're sort of in a quiet period right now, and we may not know for a few days. do you think that he could raise the money purely technically if he got in this week? >> i think if folks are really seriously committed to raising money for a super pac he certainly could have millions of dollars in his super pac from the moment that he decides to go. but it's interesting to me that there still is so much clamoring out there for somebody else to get into this race who isn't mitt romney. i think that's what chris christie says more than anything else about the boomlet of energy and attention

>> vice president christie?would he be on your short list. >> he had be on anybody's short list. he may take himself off the list and say he has no interest, but he's one of the leading figures in the republican party. >> would you think you would be a good match? >> we're great friends. we agree on a whole host of issues. >> do you think you'd be a good match? >> i don't know that i'd be anybody's good match in that regard, but ultimately that kind of thing is up to the person who is the presidential nominee to decide who they think is the best person for them and most importantly the best person for the country. >> the good news, governor romney, is you are the front-runner. the bad news is that there has been the feeling in this campaign that republicans were still looking for another candidate to get in the race. why do you think governor romney has faced such a challenge? >> everybody faces that kind of challenge. the fact is governor romney is going to earn it, and he wouldn't want it any other way. to get

>> absolutely nothing. >> vice president christie? >> no. >> no? >> no, he didn't promise me anything. >> would he be on your short list? >> of course he would be on anyone's short list. he may take himself off the list and say no way, he'd have no interest, but the truth is that governor christie is one of the leading figures in the republican party. >> she'll share more of her interview later this morning when she joins us on "morning jo joe". now joining us from skype, mark halperin. he was at the debate last night. the first question, are you in a restroom of any kind this morning? >> i'm not. i went to harvard, so i don't make the same mistake twice. we won't have the bathroom issue yoefrn overhad did shashadow o. i'm near a bathroom, but not in one. >> good to thouknow. it looked like mitt romney had a pretty good night. >> i gave him a clean a. he didn't revolutionize our you view of him, but he was easily the strongest person on the stage as he's been in every debate and he left the debate not just with with strong debate performance, but w

news about chris christie, his 1:00 p.m. announcement.t launch since its ceo/corporate rock star, steve jobs, stepped down. all eyes on its new leader, tim cooke and of course what's new in apple's crown jewel, the iphone. >>> good morning, everybody. following breaking news here on msnbc, reporting governor chris christie will not run for president in 2012. that announcement is expected at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon. a staff writer for "the star ledger" joining us via skype from new jersey's capitol in trenton. this is big news, sources telling nbc he was seriously thinking about this over the last few days. in your estimation from covering him as a governor, why do you think he decided not to throw his hat into the ring? >> well, it was a tough decis n decision. there's a lot of down side to start a presidential race this late in the game. it's hard to put together an organization so quickly. there were doubts among some conservatives that he was too liberal to compete in the presidential primary. and, also, there are other things he want

chris christie says he'll sit this race out. jim acosta is joining us from trenton, new jersey, with more. was it dramatic announcement around 1:00 today, jim. >> that's right, wolf. after months of denials that he was running, chris christie acknowledged at a press conference that he was reconsidering this decision and then last night, he says he made the decision not to run for president and then this morning, started calling donors and key supporters to make his decision clear and he had a press conference and really needed to only take a few minutes to say he wasn't running for president, but governor christie, who is never at a loss for words, held court for an hour talking about the white house to the current gop field to running for vice president in 2012. you name it. i asked him how is he certain that we won't all be here three months from now. six months from now, the eve of the republican national convention asking these questions again and here's what he had to say. >> i had spoken to a lot of people this morning and

. >>> chris christie's big secret is out. he's way too liberal. >> will he or won't he buzz is everywhere. >> like elvis said, now or never. >> chris christie has republicans waiting and waiting and waiting. >> the governor chris christie is seriously reconsidering. >> chris christie's rethinking a run for the white house. >> narrowly favor his not running. >> it may not be too late. >> his family is reportedly on board with. >> chris christie's wife marry p pat is apparently on board. >> promising to do one thing and then doing the opposite, sounds pretty presidential to me. >> christie cannot win the right wing. >> i wish him luck. >> his competition is thin. >> the flavor of the month. >> the pool is bad. >> the swimming pool looks better until you jump right in. >> come on in, let us take a look at you. >> republicans are going to be all over him. >> put you to the microscope. >> conservative alternative to mit romney. >> saying to michele bachmann -- >> he's going to turn off a lot of conservatives. >> the star has been